Culture and Socialization

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Culture and Socialization
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Culture

• The culmination of all knowledge, ideas,
  information, technology, and behavior.
• The totality of who we are as a society
• The picture we create throughout our lives about
  how we live
• The story of who we are as a society

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Socialization

• The process by which we pass along our culture
  from one generation to the next.
• Transferred through media, written word, stories,
  laws, and values
• From one generation to the next
• Language is the key

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Types of Culture

• Material culture-
• Physical aspects of our daily lives
• Cell phones, hammers, cars, houses, Starbucks
  coffee, etc.
• Nonmaterial culture
• the ways we use material objects customs
  beliefs language etc.
• Culture lag
• the period of maladjustment when the nonmaterial
  culture is struggling to adapt to new material
  conditions

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Cultural Universals

• Cultural patterns shared among several societies.
  
• They may not be expressed the same way.
• Dating process, Marriage and Death rituals,
  Education (Formal vs. Home schooling).
• Third Rock from the Sun

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Innovation

• Process of introducing a new idea or object into
  society
• Genetic Engineering
• Internet
• Email
• Instant messaging
• Text messaging

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Invention

• Using multiple current cultural items to create
  new tools and ideas that did not previously
  exist.
• Computers
• Automobiles
• Religious beliefs
• Forms of government

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Diffusion

• The process of a cultural idea spreading from one
  society to the next.
• Restaurants, Food, Technology, Language, and
  Clothing
• The McDonaldization of Society George Ritzer

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McDonaldization of Society

• George Ritzer
• The process by which the principles of the
  fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate
  sectors of western culture as well as of the rest
  of the world
• 4 Main attributes of McDonald restaurants.

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4 Characteristics

• Efficiency
• Calculability
• Predictability
• Control through non human technology

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Efficiency

• A measurable method of getting from one point to
  another with the least resistance
• Fast Food How quick can the customer go from
  being hungry to being full

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Calculability

• The ability to accurately measure processes and
  procedures to determine exact standards
• Timers on fryers
• Rule book on cooking hamburgers
• How big each one should be before and after
  cooking

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Predictability

• The assurance that products and services will be
  the same across space and time
• Chain stores, food products, services,
• C.S.I series, Friends, American Idol

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Control through non human technology

• The use of rules and machines to guide human
  behavior.
• Handbooks, Lines, call times, menus, and computers

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Advantages of McDonaldization

• Wide range of goods and services available for
  consumption
• Starbucks, Barnes and Nobles, Wal-Mart
• Quick access to goods and services
• Amazon.com, Wal-Mart
• Higher quality goods
• Generic products become available

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Disadvantages of McDonaldization

• Irrationality of Rationality
• Denies human reasoning
• Uniformity creates problems within society
• Pollution, excess waste, mass production,
  individuality is lost
• Loss of creativity, standardization
• Popular music, Movies and Television become
  packaged
• Dehumanizing
• Everything becomes a factory
• Consumerism

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Consumerism

• The tendency of people to identify with the
  products they purchase and to purchase beyond the
  necessities of life
• Equating personal happiness with consuming
  without the need to consume
• Usually associated with the Western (American)
  culture of over spending
• Consumption becomes a way of life

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Elements of Culture

• Language
• Norms
• Mores
• Folkways
• Sanctions
• Laws
• Values

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Language

• The culmination of symbols, words, and gestures
  used to transfer culture from one generation to
  the next

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Norms

• What is accepted and not accepted
• Norms can change over time and space
• What events can change accepted norms
• What situations can change norms
• Established standards created by society through
  trial and error.
• Marriage
• Dating
• Income
• Education

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Folkways, Mores, and Values

• Folkways
• Relatively weak norms
• Not strictly reinforced
• Drinking and Smoking
• Mores
• Very Rigid Norms
• Institutionalized norms
• Laws
• Values
• Set of ideals that a culture hold dear
• Created over time

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Sanctions

• Values and Sanctions represent what a culture
  deems important
• Cherished values are more rewarded than those
  that are not
• Positive and negative responses to execution and
  violations of norms
• Raise vs. Demotion
• Smile vs. Frown

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Cultural Variation

• The differences that exist within cultures based
  on their specific needs and geography
• Variations create separate groups that exist
  within the dominant culture

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Sub-Cultures

• Characteristic of complex societies and
  industrialized nations
• Extension of mainstream society
• Based on common ideals and values that may differ
  from mainstream society
• Norms and Mores are established through internal
  means
• Viewed as different from the outside
• Prisoners
• Armed Forces
• Religious Groups

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Counter Culture

• Emerged within the 1960s
• Groups that opposed the dominant ideology and
  lifestyle
• Popular among the young
• Groups within society that oppose the dominant
  ideology of mainstream society
• Hippies of the 60s -- materialism
• Anti-American terrorists - immoral

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Hippies
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Communes
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Culture Shock

• The feeling of being lost with a new culture and
  not able to distinguish between acceptable and
  not-acceptable
• Usually occurs on vacation or moving to a new
  area

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Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

• The idea that ones own culture is superior
• Using your own culture as a measuring stick
  against the worlds other cultures
• Marriage rituals
• Education
• Womens rights
• Using native culture to gauge foreign behavior
• Understanding different experiences create
  different behavior

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Anthropocentrism

• The idea that our species in superior to all
  other on the planet
• Humans are the most superior species on the
  planet and
• All other species are meant to be dominated by men

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The Role of Socialization
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Socialization

• Methods of passing culture from one generation to
  the next
• Various theories on processes
• George Herbert Mead
• Erving Goffman
• Charles Horton Cooley

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Nature vs. Nurture

• Most experts agree that heredity (nature) offers
  a probability for a trait while the environment
  (nurture) can affect the trait.
• Nature
• Genetics
• Biology (Sex, Size, Weight)
• Nurture
• Social Class
• Education level
• Income level

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The Self and Socialization

• The idea that our image of our self is created by
  the process of socialization
• We create our image of our self through our
  distinction from others
• Based on George Herbert Meads work with self
  identity and recognition
• The Self sets us apart from others that is
  constantly changing

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Meads Theory of Self

• Mead argues that the self begins to develop as a
  privileged and centralized position in ones own
  life
• Young people only see the world as it revolves
  around them
• Older individuals are able to realize the
  perspectives and reactions of others
• 3 stages of development
• The preparatory stage
• The play stage
• The game stage

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Meads Stages

• Prep Stage
• During the first two years imitate others they
  see
• Play Stage
• About age three, children go through the play
  stage and pretend to be those closest to them
  (father or mother).
• Game stage
• About age 8 or 9, during this period, children
  begin to play roles they see others in society
  playing. This includes basketball, baseball,
  etc. This is how they learn the rules of life.
• Children in this stage start to understand social
  positions and how they fit into the environment.
• Learn behavior based on assuming roles

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The Others

• Generalized
• Attitudes, viewpoints, and expectations that a
  child has toward a generic group of people
  social values are important
• Secondary group based
• Our behavior is based on social values and
  expectations
• Significant
• Those who are responsible for the specific
  development of the self
• Primary groups

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The Looking Glass Self

• Charles Horton Cooley
• Based on what we assume others think about us
• 3 stages on how we develop the image of our self
• Presentation to others, how do we present
  ourselves
• Others evaluation, how do people see us
• Self image based on evaluation
• We could develop a false sense of self based on
  wrong opinions

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Erving Goffman

• Connected with the Interactionist perspective
• The self is always changing based on the
  individuals we come into contact with
• We change the presentation of our self to create
  various impressions to the public
• Impression Management

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Impression Management

• The idea that we change the way in which we
  present our self to the situation we are in
• As our audience changes, out presentation of self
  changes
• Work place, school, parties, and family
  gatherings.

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Dramaturgy

• Goffmans analogy that life is a stage
• We are all actors that act out roles based on the
  situation we are involved in
• Two pieces involved in dramaturgy
• Front Stage the front we put up when we are
  acting in front of an audience
• Back Stage the front is taken down after we
  have left the stage of life.

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The Life Course

• Different pieces of life that change our idea of
  self and the presentation to others
• Rites of Passage
• Re-socialization
• Agents of Socialization

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Rites of Passage

• Events that validate a change in a persons life
  and begins a new stage
• Rites of passage must be socially accepted to be
  recognized
• Weddings
• Graduation
• Bat Mitzvah
• Major Birthdays

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Resocialization

• The process of unlearning old norms and values.
• Society deems certain behaviors unacceptable and
  acceptable methods to change those behaviors
• Rehabilitation and Punishment
• Prison
• Boot Camps
• Rehab Centers

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Degradation Ceremony

• Process by which an individual is humiliated to
  promote the re-socialization process
• Usually results in the lack of the ability to
  make personal choices and reduce initiative of
  the individual to challenge the system
• Total institutions complete control over an
  individuals life and behavior

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Agents of Socialization

• Events and stages that play an important role in
  the process of socialization of an individual
• Different socializing agents as we grow older

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Family

• Primary group that has the most influence on the
  initial socialization on children
• Parents guide children to what they believe is
  right and wrong
• Siblings socialize younger siblings to what can
  be gotten away with

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School

• Next most important part of socialization
• Learn how to behave and follow rules that are
  outside of what parents teach us
• Learning the customs of a larger society
• Begin to develop secondary groups

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Peer Groups

• Peers allow us to express our selves as
  individuals
• We are expected to act certain ways when are part
  of a family and under restrictions at school
• Influences outside of family begin to shape who
  we are
• Grow as an individual rather than a member of a
  family

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Mass Media and Workplace

• Technology that promotes socialization of the
  individual
• Television
• Magazines
• Signifies the transition to adulthood from
  adolescence
• Forces individuals to behave correctly or
  sacrifice the ability to maintain their lively
  hood
• Make money to pay bills
• Be responsible to the greater society

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The State

• The state provides rules and regulations that
  must be followed or result in negative sanctions
• Laws are established to determine what is allowed
  and not allowed
• We are taught that laws are made to be followed
  and a stigma may be attached to someone who does
  not

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Social Institutions and Structure

• How do we define reality

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Interaction within Social Structures

• How do social institutions affect group behavior
• Individuals are guided by the rules and
  regulations of institutions
• Roles are defined by the involvement in
  institutions and organizations
• What we do is defined by our roles within
  institutions

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Defining Social Reality

• The power to control what is seen as reality
  defines a groups power and position within
  society
• Reality changes as different groups move into
  power and create hegemony
• Political Party and War
• Reality is based in structure and organizations
• Elements of Social Structure

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Statuses

• Defined position within a larger group or society
• Ascribed status status assigned to individuals
  without regard to talent or skill status based
  on biological traits
• Achieved status status assigned to individuals
  through their own efforts, skills, and talents
• Master status status within an individual that
  has dominance over another

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Example of Individual Status
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Social Roles

• Set of expectations for people who occupy roles
  and specific positions in society
• Roles and expectations are determined by society
• Roles allow individuals to take on
  responsibilities and anticipate the reactions of
  others
• Roles may also restrict interaction and
  relationships

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Role Conflict

• When two or more roles begin to overlap and
  conflict with each other
• Expectations of each role violates the norms of
  the other
• How we interpret the roles and behavior that is
  expected
• Assume the behavior of the more dominant role

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Role Strain

• The idea that occupying a single role can cause
  strain within an individual
• Multiple expectations are placed on the
  individual
• Individuals feel that it is necessary to maintain
  the integrity of the role they are inhabiting
• Soldier in a war

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Social Groups

• Defined as a group of people who share the same
  norms, values, and expectations who interact with
  each other on a daily basis
• Groups can span over time and space
• Using the Internet, we have been able to create
  long lasting groups across the world
• Primary groups
• Secondary groups

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Primary and Secondary Groups

• Primary groups those that we spend time with
  using face to face interaction
• Family, Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Husband,
  Wife
• Secondary groups relationships based on formal,
  and impersonal interaction. Little intimacy
  between the individuals
• Co-workers, students at school, cashiers,
  tellers, waiters, waitresses, customers at work

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Social Networks

• Links that connect individuals to other
  individuals and groups
• Networks may restrict (small) or empower (large)
  individuals to interact with each other
• Technology allows individuals to interact over
  time and space
• Email, newsgroups, blogs, forums, electronic
  journals, etc.
• Myspace

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Social Institutions

• Entities allow individuals to connect and adopt
  rules
• Institutions are centered around the same basic
  ideas, values, and basic needs
• Institutions serve basic functions of the larger
  society
• Maintain stability and function to give
  individuals something to belong to

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Global Perspectives

• Global views of social institutions
• Ferdinand Tonnies
• Gerhard Lenski
• Pre-industrial
• Industrial
• Post-industrial/Post-modern

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Ferdinand Tonnies

• Two conflicting views on society
• Gemeinshaft -- Society is based on the intimate
  relationships between individuals concurrent
  with the rural community, individuals have
  similar backgrounds and values
• Gesellshaft Society is based on the formal
  relationships of individuals, characteristic of
  modern rural cities relationships are rules by
  social laws and rules

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Gerhard Lenski

• Argued that society was always changing with the
  introduction of new innovations and culture
• Sociocultural evolution
• The interplay of innovation, social and cultural
  continuity continue to change society.
• Technology is the driving force behind social
  change

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Social Organization
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Hunter-Gatherer

• Nomadic People
• Technology is minimal
• Populations were small strong cultural
  boundaries
• People relied on what was readily available, such
  as fruits, nuts, berries, and animals
• Composed of small spread out groups
• Little inequality due to the lack of resources
• Low division of labor

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Horticultural Society

• Supplementary to hunter-gatherer lifestyle
• First glimpse of modern human settlement
• Groups became more stationary
• Planting seeds and growing crops emerged and
  allowed people to stay in one location
• Varying ratios of hunting and agriculture
• Tools and households become important to the
  development of society
• Evolved into the Agrarian society

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Agrarian Society

• Emerged 10-12,000 years ago
• Primarily engaged in the production of crops and
  the surplus of food
• Cultures become stationary begin to merge a
  populations grow
• Cities begin to emerge around food development
• Cultivation and storage of food become key
  components

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Industrial/Modern Society

• Follows the pre-industrial society depends
  largely on the mechanization of production
• Majority of society moves from an agrarian to an
  industrial society
• Mechanical labor replaces human labor and
  factories begin to expand throughout England
• Families are no longer self sufficient and must
  depend on paid labor to survive

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Industrial/Modern Theorist

• Modern Theories attempt to rationalize society
  into large, grand theories.
• Theorists
• Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim
• George Ritzer (McDonaldization of Society)
• Anthony Giddens, Jurgen Habermas, Ulrich Beck

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Modern Theorists

• Anthony Giddens
• Modern society is a juggernaut that is out of
  control, over space and time. It will stop when
  it is done
• Jurgen Habermas
• Modern society is an unfinished product, it is
  continually growing and expanding
• Ulrich Beck
• Modern society is now based on Risk, The Risk
  Society. Science has created problems that it
  can no longer control. Society has become a
  testing bed for scientists.

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Post-Industrial society

• The point which mechanical technology has become
  mainstream
• Information becomes the key to society
• Daniel Bell
• Argued that society becomes based on the exchange
  and processing of information
• Social issues become more of a concern throughout
  society
• Healthcare, education, environmental issues

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Post-Modern Society

• Society that is more pre-occupied with the
  creation of goods and images
• Break from the modern society
• Goods and information is created and consumed on
  a grand scale
• There are no longer physical boundaries for
  cultural items
• Social break from the modern system

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Post-Modern Society

• The attempt to reorganize society without the
  strict boundaries of the modern system of
  production
• Cultural items are spread throughout the world
• Sushi in Kroger's
• American restaurants in Japan

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Post-Modern Society

• Post-modern theories are concerned with specific
  phenomena, not all inclusive theories
• Argues that there is no end all be all theories
  that encompass all of life
• Theorists
• Jean Baudrillard, Jean-Francios Lyotard,
• Frederic Jameson

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Post-Modern Theorists

• Jean Baudrillard
• Society is dominated by media and its images
• Simulacra the world is characteristics of
  simulations of the real world
• Jean Lyotard
• Society is based on difference and plurality
• Frederic Jameson
• Post modern world is superficial and depthless

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Modern and Post Modern Society

• Modern/Industrial society
• Based on the totality of rationalization
  mechanization and rational processes control
  society
• Post Modern/Industrial society
• Based on the creation and control of information
  images and the media become the dominant force
  increasing technologies are used to increase
  supply for goods and services

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UnderstandingOrganizations

• Formal Organizations, Bureaucracies, and a Movie

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Formal Organizations

• Why do we have a organizations
• As societies develop the need arises for
  structure and regulations
• As populations grow there must be a way to
  organize individuals and groups
• Complex societies need to have structure, rules,
  and formal systems to operate
• A formal organization is a group designed for a
  special purpose and structured for maximum
  efficiency

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Weber and Bureaucracy

• 'Bureaucracy' is rule conducted from a desk or
  office
• The preparation and dispatch of written documents
  to subordinates
• Characterized by an elaborate hierarchical
  division of labor directed by explicit rules
  impersonally applied

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Bureaucracy

• Component of large scale organizations that allow
  them to operate at maximum efficiency
• Based on hierarchical system with individuals
  occupying roles that report to a multiple
  superiors
• Composed of multiple layers of rules and
  regulations that are imposed onto the individual

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Max Weber

• Five characteristics of bureaucracies
• Division of labor
• Hierarchy of Authority
• Written Rules and Regulations
• Impersonality
• Employment based on technical skills (meritocracy)

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Division of Labor

• Produces efficiency in large scale organizations
• Produces trained incapacities for the individual
• Individuals become so specialized problems begin
  to go un noticed
• Produces a narrow perspective

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Hierarchy of Authority

• Clarifies who is in command
• Everyone is always under the supervision of
  another
• Deprives employees of a voice in decision making
• Permits concealment of mistakes from superiors

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Written Rules

• Clear expectations from the organizations
• Goal displacement
• Overly strict enforcement of regulations
• Lets workers know what is expected from them
• Stifles initiative
• Leads to goal displacement

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Impersonality

• Decisions are made without the consideration of
  the individual
• Reduces bias from superiors and subordinates
• Contributes to a cold and uncaring atmosphere
• Discourages loyalty to the company

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MeritocracyEmployment based on skills

• Discourages favoritism and reduces petty
  rivalries
• Standards are used to measure individuals skill
  levels
• Discourages ambition to improve oneself
• Promotes the Peter principle
• Everyone rises to their level of incompetence
• Individuals are promoted to one level over their
  skill level

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Organizational Culture

• Scientific Management Approach
• Individuals are motivated by economic rewards
• Physical restraints hold workers from full
  efficiency
• Individuals become commodities and resources
  rather than people within an organization

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Human Relations

• This approach focuses on the people,
  communication, and individual participation in
  the corporation
• Small groups begin to change the structure of the
  organization through compromise and struggle
• Specialists trained in human relations force the
  communication between management and employees

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Functionalist POV

• Institutions provide stability to society
• Gives meaning and attachment to individuals
• Weber
• Institutions become beaurocracies
• People become part of the system
• Durkheim
• Institutions provide solidarity
• Involvement in institutions provides norms
• Lack of norms Anomie

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Conflict POV

• Institutions are guided by the upper class
• Norms and values are dictated by the dominant
  class and their ideals
• Marx
• Norms are established through force
• Value and ideals are centered in the dominant
  class
• Hegemonic ideals and values

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Interactionist POV

• Relationship within institutions
• How do we create and maintain relationships
• Reality is shaped by our interpretation of
  symbols
• We create our reality through meaning and
  percpetion

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Office Space

• Look for aspects of the bureaucracy
• Five aspects of organizations
• Look for statuses and roles
• Record instances of role strain, role conflict,
  primary, and secondary groups
• Scientific management approach
• Human relations approach